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Neomexicanus Crowns Now Available!

June 6, 2016 by Derek Springer 4 Comments

Part of my series on neomexicanus hops.
Wide shot of Neomexicanus Crown in pot
Good news everyone!Those of you who have been reading the site for a while know that I like to keep tabs on all things Neomexicanus (a newly cultivated hop variety that is native to the South Western United States). A few years ago it was possible to find a handful of hop growers willing to sell Neomexicanus rhizomes/crowns, but a handful of big breweries (namely, Sierra Nevada) recently discovered the variety and many of the growers went underground to focus on commercializing their crops. Thus, for the last handful of years unless you knew someone who managed to snag a plant a few years ago and was willing to share you were out of luck if you wanted to grown your own.

Well, good news everyone: I just got word that Great Lakes Hops has field-grade Neomexicanus crowns available for purchase again! It’s still early enough that if you order and plant ASAP you might get a small harvest and you will come out strong for next year. Here is a quick rundown of the available varieties with descriptions from Great Lakes Hops:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: hops, neomexicanus

HBC 438 “Ron Mexico” Out Now!

November 29, 2015 by Derek Springer Leave a Comment

If you remember my review of the candy orange/passionfruit-forward HBC 438 “Ron Mexico” from a few months ago, I mentioned it should be available for purchase after the fall harvest season. Good news: according to its grower, HBC 438 should now be widely available!

News of the recent home brew exclusive testing of experimental hop variety HBC 438 has been creating a buzz throughout the home brew community since its release announcement at the 2015 National Homebrewers’ Conference. We are happy to report that these highly anticipated hops are now hitting the shelves at home brew stores throughout the United States.

Source: Experimental Hop Released – YCH HOPS

HBC 438 is great in any hop-forward ale and should be strong enough to stand on its own or can be mixed with other citrusy/tropical hops to add some amazing depth. You should be able to find HBC 438 wherever Hop Union/HBC hops are sold, but if you cannot find it locally the hops are available at the following online retailers:

  • MoreBeer!
  • Northern Brewer/Midwest Supplies
  • Label Peelers
  • Adventures in Homebrewing

Full Review

Filed Under: General Tagged With: HBC 438, hop, neomexicanus

2015 Neomexicanus Hops Are Here!

October 20, 2015 by Derek Springer 2 Comments

15301738192_30260a8269_m_hopsAh fall, when a young brewer’s heart turns to lupulin; if you are anything like me, you have been eagerly awaiting word of the fall hop harvest being ready. Well, good news: not only are normal hop varieties starting to roll out, but I just got word that the monks at Holy Hops have just released their 2015 crop of Neomexicanus varieties!

First some bad news: not only was this year rough in the Lupulin Triangle (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho), nature was a fickle mistress down in New Mexico as well.

The 2015 growing year was a challenge to say the least… In April, May, and June we experienced abnormal amounts of rain, rain, and more rain that soaked the fields and put less direct sunlight on the maturing bines… July saw returns to normal temperatures, afternoon rain, and otherwise long, bright sunny days which was encouraging. Then August arrived with a vengeance! We experienced a series of heavy hail storms during the first two weeks of August. One storm was so severe that small pea size hail pellets fell so violently that it stripped most of the maturing hop cones off the plants. At the end of the storm, there was about 12 inches of hail on ground mixed with thousands and thousands of hop cones! It was heartbreaking to see the damage to the crop. None the less, we did a very short two day harvest in late September that produced less than a quarter of a normal harvest.

Now the good news: the neomexicanus varieties they harvested were especially potent and there are still plenty available to homebrewers only. Unfortunately there’s no Chama available (my favorite from last years crop), but Amalia, Latir (review), Mintras, and Tierra make a return.

Click to view 2015 Neomexicanus harvest on Holy Hops

Click to view 2015 Neomexicanus harvest on Holy Hops

In the mean time, feel free to catch up on my series of posts about Neomexicanus hops. I will make an update if I hear of any other outlets selling Neomexicanus this year. Happy brewing!

Filed Under: General Tagged With: hops, neomexicanus

Neomexicanus Hop Review: HBC 438

August 3, 2015 by Derek Springer 2 Comments

Part of my series on neomexicanus hops.

HBC 438 closeup
Think about all the hottest new hops you know about: Mosaic, Azacca, Hallertau Blanc, Equinox–scores more are bursting onto the scene every year. Did you know that your favorite new hop is one of a small handful of its sisters that started its journey over a decade ago? The path to naming and releasing a hop is a long and highly selective process in which vary few varieties make it past even the first year of cultivation.

Hop Breeding Flow Chart

Hop Breeding Flow Chart – Credit Jason Perrault

Breeders begin by crossing popular existing varieties that they think will 1) produce interesting flavor characteristics and 2) possess the right agronomic traits (e.g. disease resistance, high yield, good storage, etc) and whittle the plants down year by year until only the fittest and most interesting make it into the market. In the latter stages of the process–years 8-10+–select breweries are given the opportunity to experiment and give feedback to the growers; Russian River Brewing famously rescued Simcoe from the brink and popularized it back when it was still an experimental hop variety. Finally, when the breeders, growers, and brewers all agree the variety is worthwhile the hop is given a name and released to the general market. In the mean time, the variety will unceremoniously be referred to by its codename (e.g. HBC 123, YCR 456, USDA 123456, etc).

Ron Mexico label

HBC 438 (aka Ron Mexico)
debuted at NHC 2015.

Those of us fortunate enough to attend the 2015 National Homebrewers Conference in San Diego this past year were treated to a special debut: a single-hop session IPA made by Russian River Brewing named Ron Mexico, the nickname of HBC 438, the experimental hop variety used to make it. The offspring of a Neomexicanus variety “Chuck’s Mexican” cultivated from the wild by Chuck Zimmermann and an unknown Lupulus father, HBC 438 is a rising superstar amongst the brewers who have had the rare opportunity to use it. Described as “tropical and stone fruit” with notes of “exceptionally unique herbal and mint” and possessing high levels of total oils and alpha acids, HBC 438 has taken an unusual path and jumped from a single hill to becoming commercially available much faster than most other varieties.

The biggest treat of all, however, was for those those in attendance of the seminar titled Brewing With Experimental Hops: A New Hop Variety Just For Homebrewers led by Jason Perrault, Karl Vanevenhoven, and Vinnie Cilurzo: a double whammy of 1) the breaking news that HBC 438 is going to be available to homebrewers exclusively starting this August/September and 2) that everyone in attendance was going to take some home with them! Through some finesse and friend-wrangling I managed to grab a total of five ounces of HBC 438, three of which I decided to dedicate to a single-ish hop review beer and two to blend into a multi-hop beer in the future.

Read on for details and my review.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: HBC 438, neomexicanus, recipe, Ron Mexico

Neomexicanus Hop Review: Latir

February 9, 2015 by Derek Springer 8 Comments

Part of my series on neomexicanus hops.

Latir header
When I began the journey of discovery that led me to neomexicanus I had no idea just what a sensation this series would become. My only thought at the time was “I just spent $50 on six ounces of hops, I should write an article or two so I feel justified,” not “I should spend the next few months of my life researching the history and future of neomexicanus.” Unsurprisingly, it appears there are many adventurous homebrewers out there looking to explore the horizons of this new hop variety with as much eagerness as myself. In a cruel irony of fates I was in the same place at the same time as none other than Stan Hieronymus himself, but missed the opportunity to serve him some neomexicanus beer by mere minutes (Stone Escondido is a huge place and the 59th Annual American Hop Convention was having a reception there).

@derekspringer dang, on bus & just read this. Sorry I missed you. And the beer.

— Stan Hieronymus (@StanHieronymus) January 22, 2015

As for the reception to the Chama Pale Ale: it received almost standing ovations at my club and equally positive reviews from the handful of individuals to whom I shipped bottles. Folks were having a hard time believing that there was so much character from only three ounces of hops and were tossing around words like mellon, peach, and (of course) weed to describe the aromas and flavor. Needless to say, it has been a hit; I think there is going to be quite a demand for Chama next fall!

Since I have been on a bit of a lager kick recently (’tis this season) I decided a simple (but delicious!) German Pilsner would be a good showcase for Latir which is described as “spicy, herbal, and flowery.” Before I get into the recipe and hop review let’s take a closer look at the hop details.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: latir, neomexicanus, recipe

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Derek Springer

Derek Springer

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